Sunday, March 8, 2009
So lately I have been really slacking off with the whole blog posting thing and don’t you think for a minute that I haven’t heard about it. In the past I’ve always gone the easy route – said “oh yeah...I got some stuff I’m about to post” – then done nothing. But I’ve decided to get my shit together and start posting and regularly! I figure if people are actually spending some of their free time checking out my blog I should give them something! Thanks for the movimiento Gary, Easy, & V Hero!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
UA Climbing Comp.
On a Beautiful Saturday I hunkered inside with the rest of the rats to watch the University of Alabama's 3rd annual climbing competition. All and all UA put on another great school climbing comp! In such a small space it was hard to miss a thing which lead to me shooting well over a thousand shots!!! Here are a few:
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Puro Movimiento
Today, at this moment, I sit in class but my mind is in a very different place. This Morning I woke early dreaming about the cold desert wind whipping snow through the tiny crack of my driver-side window. It was too dark when I arrived to look for a wind-protected sanctuary. I was far too tired to keep driving this high in the canyon. I pulled over, cracked my window, and fell asleep before slipping into my warm bag. When morning came I awoke to harsh wind – cold snow. After showering and brushing my teeth I decided to get safe. There was no place that I wanted to be more. No feelings I wanted to experience more. I closed my eyes and went back to that cold morning in the back of my truck. I cracked my eyes and peered up from my sleeping position - to my amazement the entire canyon was frozen. I remember thinking “What the fuck? Where the hell am I? The desert is trying to kill me!” I wiggled my way to a sitting position – where there had been only darkness; there was now an enormous mountain reservoir – frozen solid. Only two days before it was 90 degrees in Moab. I was very excited…
This is the first time I've found myself longing for Joe’s but I miss Utah. I miss traveling. I miss the desert. I miss the mountains. I miss the rain forest. I miss the fjords. I miss feeling the glacier creaking in the afternoon sun. I miss the people. But above all I miss the constant urges to go on – to do more – to be motivated by something so powerful that to try to define it seems blasphemes. Perhaps I’m just a loon but I really don’t know how to explain to people that every day I sit in a generic classroom staring at a generic whiteboard, or on a random street in a random town I die just a little –just enough to feel it. The worst part is that with every passing day my sensitivity to this phenomenon fades too. I’m twenty three, soon to be twenty four, and the only equity I've built is intangible, and many would argue has no value at all. My wants are not unlike that of most people. I desire shelter, companionship, a since of belonging - I would even like to have enough money that I do not live on a bubble – yet I cannot shake my desire. It is who I am. It is what I’m supposed to do. There is nothing harder or more detrimental than forcing yourself to deny your path. I am now, as I always have been, unsure about the proper direction to take but I do find solace knowing that that there will be many other days like the ones pictured here.
Puro Movimiento - Solid Movement
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Today Was Awesome!!!
So after ranting yesterday I had a great great great day today! It was cold. The friction was awesome. And I couldn't have asked for a better crew to share it with.
Mike getting very intiment beta from Daniel
Me working hard to figure out the next move. I'll get it soon
The great thing about the new area were playing in is that there is absolutely no need to contrive anything. Everything is hard (or at least for me). I'm really so excited about watching the process of the group working out every little movment.
I’d love to disclose the location but do to access issues I can’t, but chances are if you are one of the few climbers who looks at this blog – you know where this is.
Super cool arete with hard moves
The Doug Jackson
Thanks drew for taking a few shots
A Bit Too Much Project / Ego Hysteria
Lately, all my friends (or should I say the people I climb with the most) seem to be stoked on their new FA Projects: Projects being a route (series of climbing holds/moves) that is at ones personal physical and mental limit; FA meaning First Accent or simply being the first to complete it. I too have jumped on the FA bandwagon with a short list of semisecret projects which got me thinking…
Why do I give a shit if I am the first to climb something? Why do other people?
I tried my best to go through all the rational reasons I could come up with. I quickly found it easiest to then lump these ideas into general topics. This is what it ended up looking like:
1) Because they desire to make the journey their own. And in doing so they feel that they must leave the “beaten path” and seek out climbs that are undiscovered. I list this as the first rationale because it is the one I choose to subscribe to personally. However, as I’ve meditated on it I’ve come to see this validation as flawed. If my true intent was discovery; then why should there be any emphasis on the actual FIRST accent? Shouldn’t I be satisfied with the knowledge that I got out and did just what I intended to do? Should I not take pleasure in the fact that my sighting might serve as muse for others?
2) Or maybe it’s because one feels as if they can express themselves through the process of envisioning the line, then working the moves, then putting all their mental effort into action through physical exertion. The manufacturing of a new route is not unlike that of a well choreographed dance. The principle must be creative, poised, and prepared to learn and adapt at all times. However, I feel that, unlike other artist climbers do not have a legitimate argument to claim anything as their own. First: Climbers although having contributed great effort to the assent did not participate in the creation of their medium (the boulder or cliff). Secondly: to assume that people were the first to climb anything is silly. Example: I was climbing in my buddies’ backyard recently and as I approached the top of a 30+ foot cliff I was passed by a small lizard carrying something in his mouth the size of its upper body. As I struggled, it just cruised on by - uninterested in me. So - just because I bolted said cliff and was the first Human to climb it does in no way mean that animals hadn’t been scaling up and down it for hundreds of years. So maybe I (along with everyone else) should start claiming the FHA’s.
3) Or perhaps, it’s because they feel that putting their name on something solidifies them as something more than the casual weekend warrior. More in what way? Maybe they need validation or something semi-tangible that they can point to and say “I did that first!” Possibly they see it as another way of proving to themselves how much better they are then perhaps someone who can’t climb their route or walked by it for years without seeing said line. Ultimately I think that that comes down to the individual. However, I feel it necessary to say that the pursuit of anything simply to flex ones ego might be the saddest way of all to spend waking hours.
So, if you are one of the people who tries to hide your project because it is “yours”, or if you choose to clean all your chalk off the holds when you’re done trying to keep the line a secret instead of being environmentally responsible – It is time to GET OVER YOURSELF! You are a climber. And even if you are the very best climber to ever live – you will still be someone who’s greatest achievements came through a completely selfish pursuit of your own indulgence.
With that being said… I’m psyched about the cold weather and high friction…so today and tomorrow I will spend my time on projects…fulfilling my lenience…I welcome anyone to join me and I would be very happy to see you crush all the new lines I’ve spotted.
Why do I give a shit if I am the first to climb something? Why do other people?
I tried my best to go through all the rational reasons I could come up with. I quickly found it easiest to then lump these ideas into general topics. This is what it ended up looking like:
1) Because they desire to make the journey their own. And in doing so they feel that they must leave the “beaten path” and seek out climbs that are undiscovered. I list this as the first rationale because it is the one I choose to subscribe to personally. However, as I’ve meditated on it I’ve come to see this validation as flawed. If my true intent was discovery; then why should there be any emphasis on the actual FIRST accent? Shouldn’t I be satisfied with the knowledge that I got out and did just what I intended to do? Should I not take pleasure in the fact that my sighting might serve as muse for others?
2) Or maybe it’s because one feels as if they can express themselves through the process of envisioning the line, then working the moves, then putting all their mental effort into action through physical exertion. The manufacturing of a new route is not unlike that of a well choreographed dance. The principle must be creative, poised, and prepared to learn and adapt at all times. However, I feel that, unlike other artist climbers do not have a legitimate argument to claim anything as their own. First: Climbers although having contributed great effort to the assent did not participate in the creation of their medium (the boulder or cliff). Secondly: to assume that people were the first to climb anything is silly. Example: I was climbing in my buddies’ backyard recently and as I approached the top of a 30+ foot cliff I was passed by a small lizard carrying something in his mouth the size of its upper body. As I struggled, it just cruised on by - uninterested in me. So - just because I bolted said cliff and was the first Human to climb it does in no way mean that animals hadn’t been scaling up and down it for hundreds of years. So maybe I (along with everyone else) should start claiming the FHA’s.
3) Or perhaps, it’s because they feel that putting their name on something solidifies them as something more than the casual weekend warrior. More in what way? Maybe they need validation or something semi-tangible that they can point to and say “I did that first!” Possibly they see it as another way of proving to themselves how much better they are then perhaps someone who can’t climb their route or walked by it for years without seeing said line. Ultimately I think that that comes down to the individual. However, I feel it necessary to say that the pursuit of anything simply to flex ones ego might be the saddest way of all to spend waking hours.
So, if you are one of the people who tries to hide your project because it is “yours”, or if you choose to clean all your chalk off the holds when you’re done trying to keep the line a secret instead of being environmentally responsible – It is time to GET OVER YOURSELF! You are a climber. And even if you are the very best climber to ever live – you will still be someone who’s greatest achievements came through a completely selfish pursuit of your own indulgence.
With that being said… I’m psyched about the cold weather and high friction…so today and tomorrow I will spend my time on projects…fulfilling my lenience…I welcome anyone to join me and I would be very happy to see you crush all the new lines I’ve spotted.
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